Ex-mayor fined for shoreline work

A developer and his contractor have been fined by the Washington Department of Ecology for excavation in Mission Creek near Cashmere in alleged violation of state regulations.

Published on November 27, 2013 9:23AM

CASHMERE, Wash. — A Cashmere developer and his contractor have been fined $20,000 each by the Washington Department of Ecology for excavation in Mission Creek near Cashmere in alleged violation of state shoreline and water quality regulations.

The developer, George N. Valison, is former mayor of Cashmere and was executive director of the now defunct Columbia Cascade Winery Association in the early 2000s. He did not return calls for comment.

Valison and the contractor he hired, David G. Baker, were cited for using heavy earthmoving equipment in the creek, digging materials from it and installing boulders that altered the stream channel and damaged the shoreline in September 2012.

The work at Quail Lane Home Condos, then owned and developed by Valison, was conducted within a 25-foot stream buffer zone and below the ordinary high water mark, Ecology said.

The stream is sensitive fish spawning habitat and the work could cause floods and damage adjacent properties, the department said.

Ecology has ordered Valison to submit a plan to restore the shoreline. He and Baker have 30 days to pay the penalty or file appeals with the Pollution Control Hearings Board.